F-22A
Raptor
assigned
to the 27th Fighter Squadron of the
1st Fighter Wing, Langley, Virginia, the first operational unit to fly
the F-22A, releasing a GBU-32 JDAM satellite/inertial smart bomb. The
US Air Force intends to replace the F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter
with the F-22A providing a precision strike capability against the most
heavily defended targets. Two F-22A squadrons are to be assigned to the
49th Fighter Wing at Holloman, New Mexico, replacing all existing
dedicated F-117A strike aircraft. Since
the F-22A was conceived during the 1980s, its basic role has expanded
considerably. Early production F-22As will be used both as a
penetrating strike fighter and air combat fighter, and medium term
planning envisages an Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance role,
Suppression of Enemy Air Defence role, and an Electronic Attack
derivative.
(US Air Force).

"The
F[/A]-22 will be the most outstanding fighter aircraft ever built.
Every fighter pilot in the Air Force would dearly love to fly
it.'' Air Marshal Angus
Houston, August, 2004 (then Chief of Air Force)

Background

The
Lockheed-Martin F-22A Raptor is without doubt the most capable
multirole combat aircraft in production today, and the only design
which combines all aspect wideband stealth capability, supersonic
cruise capability, high supersonic and subsonic agility and a fully
integrated avionic suite. It also has the dubious distinction of
being the most maligned combat aircraft design since the 1960s TFX –
its critics in the US and elsewhere concocting untruthful stories
about its capabilities, utility and cost.

With
the F-22A having recently transitioned from Low Rate Initial Production
to full
rate production, and with Initial Operational Capability declared
twelve months ago, it’is timely to explore the F-22A in detail.

This analysis is an updated and expanded version of the original 2005
analysis.

Footage

F-22 Raptor
Small-Diameter Bomb Test

F-22
Raptor Airshow Demo at Langley Air Force Base

F-22 Raptor - A
Lockheed Martin Production

The
Advanced Tactical Fighter Program

Today's
F-22A has its earliest origins in the Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF)
program, conceived during the late seventies and early eighties in
response to intelligence reports on the then new Soviet Ramenskoye
Ram-L and Ram-K prototypes, which eventually evolved into today's
Su-27/30 and MiG-29 family of aircraft.

The
Sukhoi and MiG fighters were designed around the aerodynamic,
propulsion and tactical ideas which were central to the US
teen-series F-14, F-15, F-16 and F/A-18A fighters: highly agile
'energy fighters' capable of sustaining high instantaneous and
sustained transonic turn rates, with high thrust-to-weight ratios and
thus specific excess power to permit rapid acceleration and then
exceptional climb performance. Close combat capabilities were matched
with Mach 2+ supersonic dash performance for air defence intercept
roles, plus a large pulse Doppler radar to permit Beyond Visual Range
(BVR) shots against opposing fighters and incoming cruise missiles.

There
is little doubt that the US fighters were almost unbeatable in
comparison with the sixties and seventies technology Soviet fighters
they were built to kill: the MiG-21 Fishbed, MiG-23/27 Flogger,
Su-15/21 Flagon and widely used earlier Soviet types. This was no
longer true of the Su-27 and MiG-29 - their TsAAGI developed
aerodynamic configuration fused key ideas from the F-14, F-15 and
F-16 designs into a single package, which in a single design matched
all of the best qualities of the teen-series types. In effect, the
MiG-29 and especially the Su-27 were a half-generation beyond the US
fighters in aerodynamic design. With BVR combat capabilities matching
or exceeding the teen series, the Soviets were a full generation
ahead in close in combat capabilities through the introduction of the
R-73 (AA-11 Archer) Gen 4 missile and the Shchel series helmet
mounted sights. In short, with the Su-27 the Soviets created a
superior fighter.

US
Air Force thinking was to develop a successor to the F-15 family of
fighters that would restore a capability margin over the new Su-27
and MiG-29 series. The new Advanced Tactical Fighter was to
outperform the new Soviet designs in BVR and close combat, and have
the energy performance advantage to engage and disengage at will. It
was envisaged that the new ATFs would penetrate high and fast, deep
into Soviet held airspace to defeat PVO and VVS fighters over their
own ground, and thus enable strike aircraft to demolish Soviet
ground-based air defences and defended assets.

The
technological enabler for this revolutionary change in energy
performance was the supercooled turbine, developed by the US Air
Force and contractors in a long running program. A turbofan with a
supercooled turbine could sustain much higher inlet gas temperatures,
permitting the engine to develop much higher dry thrust at altitude
and thus sustain Mach 1.4 plus speeds without using the thirsty
afterburner. Supersonic cruise or “Supercruise” would thus permit
the ATF to operate in the teen/teenski series fighters' afterburning
performance envelope in dry thrust alone, providing not only
unprecedented supersonic persistence, but also exceptional supersonic
and subsonic agility (later manifested in the use of thrust
vectoring).

The
second key technology to find its way into the ATF was stealth, with
the success of the Have Blue and F-117A demonstrating its utility.
With stealth, the ATF could have an unbeatable advantage in BVR
combat, and F-117A-like survivability against surface to air missile
threats.

The
third key technology to be introduced into the ATF was an integrated
software-centric digital avionic suite, in which all sensor and
system processing was concentrated in a redundant package of
multi-processing computers.

The
ATF's sensor suite was to be dominated by a large active phased array
radar, built for low antenna radar signature, and with the agility
and processing power to provide Low Probability of Intercept modes.

The
RFP was issued in 1986. The resulting Lockheed/Boeing/General
Dynamics YF-22A and Northrop/McDonnell-Douglas YF-23A demonstrators
embodied these key design concepts. Early in 1991, the more
conservative YF-22A was selected over the more radical (and arguably
riskier) YF-23A, resulting in today's F-22A.

Early
planning envisaged envisaged up to 750 ATFs being built, as
one-for-one replacements for the expected fleet of F-15A and F-15C
fighters.

The
year the F-22A development program was launched was the year in which
the Soviet Union collapsed, and the year in which the F-117A
demolished the nucleus of Saddam's air defence system.

While
the production F-22A design was being crafted, exploiting the
conceptual design of the YF-22A, much thought was being invested in
the changing strategic environment. Clearly an F-22A designed for
NATO theatre air superiority alone would be too narrowly specialised
for a post Cold War world, one in which a post Soviet Russia was
busily proliferating the Su-27 and S-300PMU and S-300V surface to air
missile systems. The new globalised world was going to be a 'rainbow
threat' environment, with evolved variants of top tier Soviet systems
available globally. Indeed, the world we see today is exactly this,
with Asian operators expected to exceed total numbers of Russian
operated Su-27 and S-300 series weapon systems, and cruise missiles a
high volume product.

By
the mid 1990s the F-22A was firmly reoriented as a multirole fighter,
intended to not only demolish opposing fighter assets and supporting
AWACS, but also hunt mobile and semimobile S-300 batteries,
supporting command centres and other critical surface targets. The
success and the limitations of the F-117A Nighthawk were clearly
apparent in 1991, and the supercruising high altitude F-22A was
clearly the only aircraft that could go where it was becoming unsafe
to send an F-117A.

There
can be no doubt that the Raptor will remain unmatched in capabilities
and combined stealth/aerodynamic performance for decades to come. The
number of new technologies used in its design compares only to the
radical break seen in the 1960s TFX program, and only comparable
investment in developing analogous technologies can produce an
equivalent design in the EU or Russia. The Raptor seems destined to
remain in a league of its own for decades to come.

(Lockheed-Martin
Image)

Maj.
John Teichert, USAF, of the 411th Flight Test Squadron
performs the first supersonic release of the 1,000 lb GBU-32 Joint
Direct Attack Munition over the Mojave test range, on the 14th July,
2005 (US Air Force).

Internal weapon bay carriage of the JDAM and AMRAAM (USAF
Photo).

Fit check of the GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bomb (USAF
Photo).

The
F-22A's APG-77 multimode radar is the most capable currently in
existence, combining AESA technology with Low Probability of
Intercept modes, and unmatched power output. Early full rate
production aircraft will be receiving an upgraded COTS technology
radar processor and lower cost TR modules, using technology common to
the JSF, and high resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar mapping modes
(Author).

F-22A
Raptor –- Supercruise and Stealth Technology

By
any measure, the development of the F-22A was revolutionary - in
the technology employed and from a stealth design point standpoint -
and this produced a combat aircraft that has no equal.

Being
able to carry weapons internally was essential to its stealth
capability, and efficient supercruise. Given the role away from
dedicated air superiority, rather than incur the costs of resizing
the compact main internal bays of the F-22A, sized initially around
four early AIM-120A AMRAAMs, the US Air Force embarked on the 'Small
Smart Bomb' program centred on the idea of carrying a payload of
multiple 250 lb class bombs. Today's 385 lb GBU-39/B and GBU-40/B
Small Diameter Bombs (SDB) were sized around the F-22A weapon bay.
For the intended role of busting an opponent's airfields, mobile
missile batteries, and command posts, the mix of either two GBU-32
1,000 lb JDAMs or eight GBU-39/40 SDBs is an excellent fit. With
all-aspect stealth and penetrating supersonic at 50,000 ft AGL, the
F-22A remains virtually unstoppable by surface-to-air missiles or
fighters. It is likely that operational F-22As will be used far more
frequently to break down an opponent's air defences than in the
classical air superiority role, despite the aircraft retaining the
full air superiority capabilities envisaged for the ATF.

The
1990s saw the production configuration of the F-22A refined, with a
new fuselage shape, revised larger span wing planform, smaller
vertical tails positioned aft, relocated cockpit, and production
configuration avionics architected.

Stealth
shaping for the F-22A design was unique as it used edge-aligned
inlets and thrust-vectoring nozzles, by virtue of edge length capable
of defeating radars with greater wavelengths than any other stealthy
fighter inlet and nozzle designs in existence. Built thus for
all-aspect relatively wideband stealth, this is a distinct
optimisation for deep-penetration and air combat, and the most
capable stealth design other than the specialised F-117A and B-2A.

The
raw aerodynamic performance of the F-22A was without precedent. In
military (dry) thrust setting the F-22A could cover the whole
afterburning performance envelope of the F-15 - or advanced Sukhois,
both still the highest performing energy fighters widely deployed.
The F-22A was rated for 9G at combat weights.

With
20,650 lb of internal fuel, the F-22A internally carried 88 per cent
of the fuel in a CFT-equipped F-15E, with no drag penalty, yet with
four 592 USG drop tanks, a total fuel load of 36,515 lb could be
carried, 6 per cent more than the internal fuel of the larger F-111.

This
uncalibrated chart compares the speed/altitude envelope of the F-22A
in military power (dry) thrust rating against the F-15C in
afterburning (maximum) thrust rating. The combination of F119-PW-100
supercruising engine and optimised supersonic aerodynamics results in
a revolutionary advance in performance, evidenced by repeated one vs
many engagements against F-15Cs during Opeval going to the F-22A (US
Air Force / Author).

Refined
supersonic aerodynamics allowed the F-22A to exceed Mach 1.5 in
military thrust at altitude - the exact top speed in dry thrust has
never been disclosed. In early trials, F-15 chase aircraft could not
keep up, and test pilots soon reported instances where even modest
heading changes by F-22A prototypes in head-to-head engagement
geometries caused opposing teen series fighters to abort engagements
entirely - an experience historically seen only in engagements
against Foxbats and Foxhounds.

In
the simplest of terms, the supercruising F-22A kinematically defeated
all opposing fighters, and even without stealth would kinematically
defeat most existing surface-to-air missile types. The only design
with the potential to kinematically challenge today's F-22A are
advanced
derivatives of the Su-30 fitted with supercruising AL-41F fans, the
Russian equivalent to the F119-PW-100 engine in the F-22A, and an
LRIP production item since 2004. [Click for
more ....]

The
unchallenged aerodynamic performance of the F-22A design required
considerable design innovation, and extensive use of new materials
techniques. At nearly 40 per cent of total empty weight, the F-22A
had the highest fraction of Titanium alloy in any US design since the
SR-71A, which compares closely to the Russian Sukhois. Resin Transfer
Molded (RTM) thermoset composites, specifically epoxy and high
temperature bismaleimide (BMI) composites, made up 24 per cent of
total empty weight. New processes, such as Hot Isostatic Pressed
(HIP) casting and vacuum chamber electron beam welding were
introduced to allow complex high strength shapes to be fabricated
from Titanium alloys, primarily Ti-64 and Ti-62222, minimising the
number of fasteners used. Only 16 per cent of the F-22A's empty
weight comprised Aluminium alloys. Like the B-2A, geometrical
accuracy is critical to stealth performance, and the F-22A required
similar production tolerancing.

The
F119-PW-100 supercruising thrust-vectoring engine proved no less
challenging. The 'short and fat' F119 engine was built with
integrally bladed rotors, using high strength long chord fan and
compressor blades, floatwall combustors exploiting high Cobalt
content alloys. Heat resistant Titanium Alloy C was used extensively
in compressor stators, the afterburner and nozzles. The part count in
the F119 was reduced by 40 per cent against the earlier F100/F110
engines to improve reliability and maintainability. Extensive self
diagnostic capabilities were incorporated to reduce personnel and
test equipment demands on deployment by 50 per cent against the F-15.
The F119-PW-100 is typically cited in the 35,000 lb static SL thrust
class. The nozzles provide 20-degree deflection, used for manouevre
and for supersonic cruise trim drag reduction. An Airframe Mounted
Accessory Drive (AMAD) is used to couple engine power to generators,
hydraulic pumps and shaft power to the engines from the Air Turbine
Starter System (ATSS).

Unlike
earlier designs, the F-22A introduced a digital Vehicle Management
System (VMS), which integrates primary flight controls, leading edge
flap controls, engine controls and thrust vector controls. The
complex software at the heart of the VMS absorbed a large fraction of
development costs, but provides the aircraft with unrestricted
'carefree' handling throughout the envelope, and very high angular
rates in manoeuvre. The F-22A uses rudder tow-in to provide the
speedbrake function.

Aircraft
utility systems also saw much innovation. The aircraft uses an
On-Board Oxygen Generating System (OBOGS) to provide breathable
oxygen, but also cockpit pressurisation and defogging. An On-Board
Inert Gas Generation System (OBIGGS) is used to produce nitrogen for
fuel tank inerting, and a Halon gas extinguisher system was
introduced to protect the engine bays, APU, and most large cavities
in the airframe. The Allied Signal Aerospace Auxiliary Power
Generation System (APGS) is built around a 450 SHP G-250 turbine APU,
considered the highest power density design in production, coupled to
a Stored Energy System (SES) using compressed air bottles for
self-starting.

Avionics
cooling in the F-22A also departed from convention, using a liquid
cooling system to dump heat out of the core avionic suite, especially
the APG-77 radar and Common Integrated Processors (CIP).
Polyalphaolefin (PAO) coolant is cycled through the avionics in two
loops, then through the air cycle cooler (bleed air driven) and then
through heat exchangers in the wing tanks, dumping waste heat into
the wing tank fuel. The fuel acts as a heat sink, but itself is
cooled by the Thermal Management System (TMS), using an air inlet
between the fuselage and inboard inlet edge to dump heat from a fuel
system heat exchanger.

The
270 Volt DC electrical system is powered by two 65 KiloWatt
generators, and a redundant 4,000 psi hydraulic system is used. A
retractable arrestor hook was included for short field recoveries.

The
forward fuselage module is built mostly of composites and aluminium,
and is structurally built around chined composite side beams and
upper longerons. The clamshell canopy uses a single piece Sierracin
0.75" thick polycarbonate canopy, designed with Zone 1 optical
quality through the full field of view. An improved ACES-II ejection
seat is used. The cockpit uses six full colour AMLCD multifunction
displays, the Primary Multi-Function Display (PMFD) being 8x8",
the three Secondary Multi-Function Displays (SMFDs) being 6.25x6.25",
and two Up-Front Displays (UFDs) being 3"x4" in size. A GEC
Head Up Display is used. The pilot is equipped with an integrated
breathing regulator/anti-g valve (BRAG) controlling air to the mask
and the G-suit, the latter acting as a partial pressure suit at high
altitude, and including an integrated air-cooling garment. Full NBC
capability is provided.

The
low observable composite radome covering the APG-77 phased array is
one of the most sensitive - and expensive - components in the forward
fuselage. The APG-77 itself with cca 1500 X-band active solid state
TR modules is the most powerful and sophisticated radar ever
installed in a combat aircraft, providing conventional weapon modes,
LPI modes, and an ISAR capability to image the shape of a target
aircraft to facilitate early recognition in combat. The forward
fuselage includes structural provisions for growth in the radar via
paired sidelooking phased arrays. Processing for the baseline F-22A's
APG-77 was performed in a package of up to three Common Integrated
Processor assemblies - built around the Intel i960 chip and VHSIC
arrays. Full production aircraft will use COTS technology processors,
reflecting the obsolescence created by politically mandated
production delays.

The
mid fuselage comprises three modules, and is the structural core of
the airframe. It contains the two main fuselage weapon bays, the side
weapon bays, much of the fuel storage, the APU, the 20 mm M61A2 gun,
the main gear bays and the inlet tunnels. Serrated upper fuselage
doors are used to dump excess air from the inlet subsystem, and an
APU exhaust and inlet are mounted at the left wing root - the gun
occupying that volume in the right wing root.

The
aft fuselage mounts the engines, TVC nozzles, and tail surfaces. It
has the highest fraction of structural titanium alloy, at 67 per
cent, 25 per cent of its weight being in the lightweight high
strength paired electron-beam-welded tail booms. The vertical tails
use composite rudders, skins and edges, and HIP titanium castings in
the actuator. The stabilators are largely honeycomb, but using
composite edges, and a unique lightweight composite actuator shaft.

The
wings of the F-22A were no less innovative, and aerodynamically
optimised for supersonic cruise and high G manoeuvre, but with
excellent transonic performance. Structurally by weight the wing uses
42 per cent Titanium, 35 per cent composites and 23 per cent
aluminium and other materials. Sinewave spars are used, with 75 per
cent of spars composite, and 25 per cent Titanium alloy to improve
ballistic damage tolerance.

The
avionic system in the F-22A accounted for a very large fraction of
development and production costs, in a large part due to the first
large scale use of active phased array technology in the radar, and
PAO liquid cooled avionic hardware - much of the rationale behind the
Joint Strike Fighter was to find development investment and
production volume to drive down the cost of radar modules, avionic
components and engine components to eventually be common with mature
production F-22As.

The
avionic suite is the most highly integrated to date, with virtually
all processing performed in the CIPs. The APG-77 radar, ALR-94
Electronic Support Measures system and AAR-56 Missile Approach
Warning System are departures from classical 'federated' architecture
avionics. Optical fibre links are used to significantly increase data
transfer rates between the radar's high frequency components and the
CIPs. The baseline F-22A was to have included an advanced long range
longwave Infrared Search and Track sensor, but this was removed in
the interim as a cost saving measure. Navigation reference is
provided by redundant Litton LN-100F ring laser gyros and a GPS
receiver. An ALE-52 dispenser for expendable countermeasures is
located under doors, forward of the main wheel wells.

As
a 'software centric' system with millions of lines of code, the F-22A
introduced the concept of a system where virtually all functions and
processing were built to rapidly evolve by software growth. The pilot
of an F-22A was presented with a level of cockpit automation without
precedent: sensor modes, such as radar, were automatically chosen by
software, hiding complexity from the pilot. The aim was to free the
pilot from the mind-numbing information saturation problem seen in
most contemporary combat aircraft. The combination of the LPI radar
and passive ESM provides an autonomous long-range detection footprint
larger than that of any contemporary combat aircraft. A new LPI
Inter/Intra-Flight Data Link (IFDL) was included to permit flights of
F-22As to transparently exchange data in combat, including fuel
states, weapons remaining, and targets being engaged.

There
can be no doubt that the F-22A will remain the pinnacle of modern
fighter technology for decades to come.

The
F-22A has transitioned from LRIP to full rate production,
incorporating a range of enhancements developed during the latter
phase of the development program. An extensive roadmap now exists for
future incremental upgrades (Author).

Wind tunnel testing of a
stealthy external stores pod, designed to carry weapons such as the
GBU-39/B and GBU-40/B Small Diameter Bomb. The pylons are rated for
5,000 lb stores (US Air Force photo).

Technicians
at
the
USAF AEDC perform low observables testing on an electro-optical
sensor fairing, developed for the AIRST sensor. Any EO sensor upgrade
would exploit this earlier effort to minimise risk and cost (USAF
Photo).

The
baseline F-22A Block 10 will be capable of air superiority, air
defence / cruise missile defence and deep-penetration strike roles.
Subsequent Block 20, 30 and 40 configurations will progressively
expand air to air and strike capabilities, and exploit the aircraft's
survivability to perform ISR roles. The F-22A thus becomes the
'broadest' multirole fighter in service (Author).

Evolving
the Raptor

Much
of the public literature on the Raptor reflects the baseline
configuration, largely frozen during the late 1990s to comply with
congressional cost caps on the development program. Unfortunately,
many observers have not bothered to explore more recent disclosures
detailing ongoing evolution of the design.

The
ability of the F-22A to penetrate all conceivable air defences
unchallenged led to a progressive role toward strike,
especially strike against high value targets and surface-based air
defences. This parallels the evolution of the earlier F-15 into
strike roles with the F-15E ‘Strike Eagle’. Longer term, the
F-22A was expected to replace the F-117A in its penetration role.

By
late 2002 it was clear that the F-22A was more the multirole fighter
in future tasking than the air superiority fighter it was conceived
to be. As a result, in September 2002 Chief of Staff General John P.
Jumper announced the redesignation of the F-22A as the F/A-22A. In 2005
this was reversed by incumbent Chief of Staff General Buzz Moseley, who observed that
by then the F-22A had become widely accepted in the US as a
strike aircraft.

The
baseline weapons payload of the F-22A in air superiority roles
comprises a pair of AIM-9X WVR AAMs in the side bays, and six
AIM-120C variant BVR missiles in the main fuselage bays. For
'unstealthy' air defence roles such as bomber and cruise missile
intercept, an additional four AIM-120 could be carried on external
pylons with a pair of external tanks. The pylons are all rated to
5,000 lb and can be jettisoned to regain full stealth performance. With
four full external tanks carried there is little degradation in load
factor or roll rate performance.

The
Initial Operational Capability configuration, fielded in 2005, was
already multirole, with the option of four AMRAAMs being
replaced by GBU-32 JDAMs. This provided an analogous deep-strike
capability to the F-117A, but much more survivable.

Current
planning envisages the introduction of the GBU-39/40 Small Diameter
Bomb in the Block 20 aircraft by 2007, together with high resolution
SAR radar modes, improved radar ECCM, two way voice and data
MIDS/Link-16 capability, improved crew station software, and improved
electronic countermeasures. The Block 20 configuration is the
baseline for the Global Strike Task Force (GSTF) fleet, and will
include JSF common radar modules, a dedicated high-speed radar
processor, and COTS technology CIP processors.

The
Block 30 configuration, planned for 2008-2011, extends the growth
seen in the Block 20. Side-looking radar arrays are envisaged to
provide a significant ISR capability in the aircraft along with
enhancements to provide full air defence suppression (Wild Weasel)
and time-critical target engagement capabilities. A Satcom terminal
will be added to provide continuous network connectivity during
deep-strike profiles.

The
post-2011 Block 40 aircraft is intended to be the definitive Global
Strike configuration, including incremental enhancements to Block 30
additions, to provide full sensor networking, range enhancements,
highly integrated ISR capabilities, and a Helmet Mounted Display
similar to the JSF. Longer term planning for post Block 40 envisages
an Electronic Attack variant, essentially replacing the lost EF-111A
Raven. A stealthy stores pod for JDAM and SDB was also in development
to enable carriage on external pylons.

As
a strike aircraft the F-22A will have similar internal payloads to
the JSF, but will be vastly more survivable due to better stealth to
evade air defence missile batteries, plus better speed/altitude
performance, more internally carried defensive air-air missiles and
the ability to kill opposing fighters with no difficulty. The spiral
development program for strike capabilities is incremental, and
primarily involves software and integration of networking equipment
and new weapons. As a result, it is an very affordable proposition. The
Block 20 enhancements were covered within the original 2004
production budget.

Concurrent
with F-22A evolution, the FB-22A is being explored as a parallel
strike platform for the US Air Force. The most recent reports
indicate that the configuration of the FB-22A has shifted from a pure
delta design, to a configuration similar to the F-22A with an
enlarged wing, enlarged weapon bays, and stretched forward fuselage
accommodating a second crew station. The F119-PW-100 engine would be
enhanced to permit long-duration supercruise on deep-strike profiles,
with specific optimisations in a number of areas for this purpose.

Perhaps
the
most
visible change in the region following the end of the Cold War
has been
the
proliferation
of large ‘high capability’ category air superiority
fighters. This chart illustrates which
types
have
been acquired or deployed by regional nations. Australia
currently operates the smaller
‘low
capability’
F/A-18A and plans to acquire the small ‘low
capability’ Joint Strike Fighter. This
places
Australia
firmly in the same force structure planning bracket as
Taiwan, Bangladesh and
New
Zealand.
This division of fighters into ‘high capability’ and ‘low
capability’ categories is based
on
the
United States Air Force ‘High - Low Mix’ model, abbreviating the
more formal ‘high capability
and
performance
category’ and ‘low capability and performance
category’. Examples of the
’high
capability’
category include the F-14, F-15 and F-22, examples of
the ‘low capability’
category include the F-16, F/A-18 and planned Joint Strike Fighter. (C.
Kopp).

This
chart
displays
currently planned numbers of high capability category
air combat fighters to be deployed by regional operators.
Final
numbers
of the Su-27SK, Su-27SMK, Su-30MKK, Su-30MK2 Flanker B/G
and derivatives remain to be determined, and Russian
sources
claim
that in excess of 500 aircraft could be acquired by China
alone. Taiwan has actively sought mothballed US F-15 fighters,
but
the
US has not agreed as yet to provide the type. Australia, New
Zealand and Bangladesh, uniquely, have no intent to deploy high
capability
category
air combat fighters (C. Kopp).

Raptor
vs the PacRim

Since
1991, the world strategic environment has changed dramatically. While
most media and political attention remains focused on the War on
Terror in the low-tech Islamic world, the larger long-term strategic
issue is the ongoing arms race in the Asia-Pacific-Indian region.
Within the PacRim itself, the growth of China as a regional military
and economic superpower is the single greatest strategic change seen
since the fall of the Soviet Union.

By
2015 we can expect to see China become the largest single operator of
late-generation Sukhoi Su-27/30 derivative fighters globally, flown
in a high-low mix with indigenous Lavi-like Chengdu J-10 fighters. By
then, the PLA-AF will be operating A-50 AWACS and Il-78MKK Midas
aerial refuelling tankers. New-build Badgers, armed with indigenous
and likely Russian derived cruise missiles, will replace much of the
legacy fleet. If the converging Russian push to export Backfires and
Bears meets with the PLA-AF leadership's ambitions to operate these
aircraft, China could well end up with a fleet of up to 40 upgraded
Tu-22M3 Backfires along with a regiment or more of late build Tu-95MS
Bears, all armed with cruise missiles and the latter likely to be
mass produced in China.

In
strategic terms, the PacRim will be faced with a technologically
evolved derivative of the very same capability package that terrified
NATO planners during the last half decade of the Cold War. With
Backfires providing a reach of circa-2,500 NMI, and Bears 4,000 NMI,
armed with cruise missiles, there are no nations in the PacRim
outside the footprint of the PLA-AF's strategic forces.

For
the US, with its principal conventional deterrent capabilities in the
Pacrim sited at Andersen AFB in Guam, Kadena and Misawa in Japan, and
naval CVBGs based in Japan and US PacRim ports, China's growing
capabilities will present a genuine strategic challenge. Guam and
Kadena fall under the footprint of the Backfire, or refuelled Sukhoi
fighters. Naval CVBGs, having lost the A-6E, F-14 and dedicated
aerial refuelling tankers, are largely limited in reach without US
Air Force tanker support, and by 2015 equipped mostly with the
limited F/A-18E/F.

The
F-22A is the strategically pivotal asset for the US in the PacRim,
providing unmatched capability in several areas: the air superiority
capability to balance Chinese Flanker numbers, the defence
suppression capability to defeat Chinese S-300/400 missile systems,
the penetration capability to shut down PLA-AF and PLA-N airfields,
and the cruise missile engagement capability to blunt any pre-emptive
or sustained strike campaign conducted by a future PLA-AF strike
force. The US deterrent posture in the PacRim region will hinge
mostly on available numbers of F-22As in this theatre.

For
Australia, the F-22A continues to represent the single best choice as
a replacement new build combat aircraft for the RAAF, as it is the
only type which will be strategically credible in the post 2015
PacRim environment.

The
first
F-22A
assigned to the 27th Fighter Squadron of the 1st Fighter
Wing, Langley, Virginia, the first operational unit to fly the F-22A.
The aircraft is flown by Lt. Col. James Hecker, USAF, over Fort
Monroe, Virginia, on May 12th, 2005. At full strength the 27th FS will
have twenty six F-22A aircraft (US Air Force photo).